Please, Never Leave My Side
by LovelyBabe123
Summary: Toshiro Hitsugaya love story! He has fallen for my own character, Ayame, 3rd seat in squad 10, and now has to protect her from Ichimaru and the hollows. Written in first person. I'm experimenting a bit HitsuXOC Rated T just in case. And it's sort of OOC.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** Okay, this is my first official fan fiction, so please review to tell me how I did! And I would like to tell my friend Erica thank you for convincing me to post this on here. I wasn't going to, but now, as I'm typing this, I'm glad I decided to. Thanks Erica! I love you! And I love everyone else here too! Oh, and if you review you can have a cookie! -waves cookies around in the air- Uh..yeah, anyway, here ya go!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of the Bleach characters. The only things in this story that I own are the plot and the character Ayame, though, I wish I did own them. They're amazing!

Enjoy! And please review!

* * *

**Please, Never Leave My Side**

**Chapter One**

**By: lovelybabe123**

I sat looking at myself in the mirror on my dresser. My long black hair descended down past my shoulders in silky smooth curls. Two emerald green eyes started back at me and I looked away, sighing.

No matter what I did to make myself look better, it just wasn't good enough. Even when I fixed my hair and did my makeup, I still wasn't pretty enough. I wanted him to notice me as someone who's gorgeous, someone he'd be able to love…

I closed my eyes and images of him slipped through my mind. His spiky white hair and perfect green eyes haunted me every time my eyes closed. His beautiful voice echoed in my ears and I could see him move so gracefully. All the images I saw seemed just so real. Like I could reach and touch them but I knew that the moment I opened my eyes, they'd vanish.

Toshiro Hitsugaya.

He was the one man I was truly in love with and couldn't get out of my mind. When he's close, my heart pounds and flutters and happiness overcomes me.

He's the man I want to be with. No matter what it takes, even if I have to change myself completely, I don't care. I just want him to be able to finally love me.

Sometimes, I try to avoid him, trying to just forget the obsession I have with him for a little while and trying not to embarrass myself. But, I find that a difficult task to accomplish seeing as he _is_ my captain. My name is Ayame Sikuzi. Third seat of division 10 and definitely head-over-heels in love with the one person I can never be with…

Standing, I went to the bathroom to get dressed in my shihkusho, or my soul reaper uniform. I left the curls in my hair, not really caring anymore. It looked pretty bad either way, so what did it matter? I would just pin it back with a bobby pin to keep it out of my eyes and call it good.

A light knock sounded through my apartment as I put the bobby pin in. I ran to open the door, worried that I had done something wrong…again. As the door swung open, I found myself face-to-face with Rangiku Matsumoto, my lieutenant.

"Good morning, Matsumoto." I said, bowing my head slightly as I stepped aside to let her in.

"Ayame," She said, turning to face me, a small smile on her face. "I came to tell you that Captain Hitsugaya would like to see you." She winked. "He needs your help with his paperwork."

A wide smile spread across my thin lips as I ran to hug her. "Really?" I squealed, excited.

"Yep." She nodded, laughing slightly at how excited I was.

Matsumoto and I have been best friends for a long time and she knew just how much I loved our captain. She did all that she could to help me get some time alone with him, but it still didn't happen very often. She couldn't keep squirming her way out of her work. Today was different though. She must have made up some insane excuse to get out of the paperwork so I could do it, and personally, I was thrilled.

"Well, you should probably get going then." She smiled, and winked again as she started to walk back towards the door.

I nodded nervously. "How do I look?" I asked, biting my lip.

"Beautiful! He won't be able to resist you!" Matsumoto laughed as she turned and disappeared around the corner.

My heart was pounding anxiously in my chest as I grabbed my zanpakto and slipped into my shoes, walking towards Toshiro's office. I reached it in a few minutes, even though it felt like it took an eternity to get there. I took a deep breath and fixed my hair before knocking gently on the door.

"Come in." He said wearily.

I turned the door knob slowly and slipped into his office, silently closing the door behind me.

"G-Good morning, Captain Hitsugaya," I stammered as I bowed my head quickly in his direction.

At the sound of my voice, he looked up in surprise. "Ayame…"He breathed, a light pink tint rising in his cheeks. "I figured you wouldn't want to come."

I looked at him slightly confused, my head cocked to one side. "Why wouldn't I want to come?" I asked.

He shook his head slowly. "I don't know. Just…Just forget I ever said that." He sighed, standing up. "Oh, and you don't have to bow to me." He added, smiling delicately.

I blushed and looked down at my feet, my smooth curls falling softly around my fragile face. Suddenly, I felt his hand gently turn my face up so I was looking directly into his eyes. He was so close I could feel his warm breath on my as he spoke.

"You look pretty today with your hair curled like that." He whispered, blushing and letting his hand fall from my face. He gestured quickly to another desk beside his. "That's where you can sit if you still want to help me…"

"Of course I still want to help you!" I said sitting on the chair behind the desk.

He smiled gently at me before taking his own seat, and passing me a pile of his paperwork. He didn't bother explain what I was suppose to do. I'd done this before and was actually quite good at it.

We sat there working in silence for awhile and when I was sure he wasn't looking, I would steal glances at his perfect face. I even caught myself staring at him a few times. But what really made me happy was that sometimes, when I looked over at Toshiro, I caught him staring at me too. When our eyes locked, we'd both blush and hurriedly turn away before continuing our work.

After a few hours, Toshiro turned to look at me, one arm on the arm rest of the chair he was in. His chin was resting gently in the palm of his other ivory hand, a small smile playing on his lips. I silently admitted to myself that he definitely looked like a male model.

"Hey Ayame," he started softly. "Do you want to take a break? We've been working for awhile now. Or, you can go home if you'd like. You could even leave for awhile and come back later if you wanted to." He stood up from his desk and stretched his arms above his head, watching me calmly.

I stood up too and flashed my gorgeous smile. "I'll take a break with you and finish later." I said.

He was still watching me, the shadows of a smile etched into his flawless face. "Okay, but I'm just going to walk around for awhile. You mind?"

I shook my head. "No, no. Not at all! I still want to go with you, if you're okay with that. Do **you **mind?"

Toshiro shook his head too. "No, of course not, Ayame."

I smiled as he said my name. "Thanks Captain." I murmured under my breath.

He started walking towards the door, but when he reached it, he paused and glanced back at me, smirking just slightly. "You know, you don't have to call me 'Captain.' You can call me Toshiro."

I blushed and looked down at my feet again as he walked out of the room, chuckling softly to himself.

"You're going to have to move from that spot if you want to come with me." He called from the hallway, humor hidden in his voice.

I blushed even more, turning an even deeper shade of red. "C-coming!" I said, rushing out of the room after him.

We walked around for awhile, laughing and talking a lot. Matsumoto had once told me a long time ago that I was definitely one of the few people that Toshiro would talk to casually. He was always so quite and serious, but when we were together, he was open, and I really loved that.

"Ayame Sikuzi!" A voice called from behind us. Both Toshiro and I stopped and automatically turned around.

"Hello Gin." I said, smiling at the creepy captain of squad 3.

"Good afternoon, Ayame! And same to you, Captain Hitsugaya!" Ichimaru said, paying little attention to Toshiro. Gin was about 2 feet in front of me now, smiling down at me in a way that sent icy chills down my spine.

"I would hardly call this 'afternoon.'" I said, looking around me at the sudden darkness that was beginning to set in.

"Yes, yes. That's true. So why exactly are the two of you walking around alone together?" Ichimaru asked, eyeing Toshiro suspiciously.

"Can a captain and squad member not walk around together?" Toshiro asked coolly.

Ichimaru's grin widened at Toshiro's bitter tone. "Well, I'm just worried about my sweet Ayame. I don't want her to get hurt, ya know."

Toshiro's eyes narrowed. "And you think **I** do? Besides, she's with me so she'll be perfectly safe."

I bit my lip nervously. I didn't like them fighting because I knew it would end badly. Besides, they weren't great friends to begin with.

"Hey, Toshiro, don't you think we should get going?" I asked, forcing a smile.

Both Toshiro and Ichimaru turned to face me, their faces hard and emotionless.

"Yeah, we probably should…" Toshiro muttered, shooting a nasty glare at Ichimaru quickly.

"It was nice talking to you, Gin!" I'll see you around, perhaps tomorrow!" I called over my shoulder as Toshiro and I headed back to his office.

After a few minutes of walking in silence, Toshiro turned to look at me. "Why are you always so nice to him?" he asked quietly.

I laughed. "You know how I am. I'm nice to everyone, even if they scare me a little, like Ichimaru. God…I hate being alone with him. I'm always afraid he's going to try to like rape me or something!" I shuddered. "But, that doesn't mean I'm going to treat him differently."

Toshiro was laughing at this point and I laughed along with him. I made me feel happy, hearing him laugh like that. Matsumoto was right, not many people could get him to talk, let alone laugh like this. It made me feel almost special that I could and I gladly committed the sound to memory.

When we finally reached his office again, we both went inside and returned to the seats we were in before. Again, we sat in silence as we worked, stealing glances at each other whenever we could. I was laughing to myself silently at our behavior. It reminded me of how we were when we were little. I felt a small smile spread across my lips at the thought of the memories.

Hours slowly crept by and I could feel my eyelids growing heavy but I had to stay awake. I had to finish the paperwork in front of me. Besides, I didn't **want** to leave, not yet.

I could feel Toshiro's eyes on me.

"Ayame, you look really tired. You can go home if you want. I'll finish on my own." He whispered softly.

"No! It's okay! I can handle this! I'm almost done!" I said, trying not to sound too eager to stay.

"Are you sure? I think you should get some rest, but if you want to stay and finish, you can." I could sense the concern in his voice.

"Yeah, I'm sure. I can definitely handle this!" I said, flashing my breathtaking smile at him.

He smiled back at me and shook his head. "Always the same, aren't we Ayame?" He sighed, turning back to his work.

I laughed. "Yeah, I've been like this ever since I was a kid, haven't I?" I turned my attention back to the pile of paperwork in front of me. My mind wandered though, back to when I was a child, alone and lost in the soul society. I thought back to when I first set eyes on Toshiro, always too afraid to approach him. In the end, he was the one that came to me. The memories weaved in and out of my mind, showing me the fun times I use to have with my captain. I missed it all, especially spending so much time with him. It was pathetic, I knew, but I had been in love with Toshiro Hitsugaya ever since I'd first laid eyes on him. But soon, I grew too tired to stay awake and in a few moments time, my eyes began to close and everything around me went black, casting me into a deep sleep.

* * *

Well, that was the first chapter. And sorry it was so short. I'm not positive how long all of the chapters are going to be because 1) when you write it on paper, it's a lot shorter when you type it and 2) It's not split up into chapters right now. I'm doing that as I type it. :o

Please review and until next time, farewell!

lovelybabe123


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:** Okay, so I finally finished typing chapter two of my story. It took so much longer that it should of, but I finally did it. And, I actually posted it right away! I'm proud of myself. -does Syd victory dance- (Sorry, inside joke with sasukelove154) And I would like to thank the people that reviewed my last chapter and the two people that corrected my mistakes. -gives them cookies- So enjoy chapter two and please review!

**Disclaimer:** I sadly do not own any of the Bleach characters. The only things I own in this story is my character, Ayame, and the plot.

* * *

**Chapter Two**

**By: lovelybabe123**

I opened my eyes to a lightened room. Sunlight poured in from in from the windows but I couldn't remember where I was. Suddenly, I sat up, the blanket falling off my upper body. I knew where I was. I was in Toshiro's apartment. I was positive I was there; it **was** connected to his office after all. I slowly looked around the room, searching for one thing. Finally, I found it. There he was leaning against the door frame, arms crossed over his chest, a wide smile on his face.

"Captain...I'm so sorry! I didn't…I mean…" I cried, scrambling, trying to untangle myself from the bed sheets.

"Ayame, just relax. Go back to sleep if you'd like. Please, just don't worry about anything. It's your day off, remember?" He sighed, crossing the room easily and gently pushing me back down.

"But, Captain…" I started.

He cut me off by pressing his index finger to my lips. "It's fine Ayame. You don't have to apologize or anything, okay? And didn't I tell you to call me Toshiro?" he said lightly, smiling.

I blushed and looked away. He laughed as he turned and started towards the door. "I'll be back to check on you in a little bit." He called back over his shoulder. When reached the door, he paused and looked back at me. "Oh, by the way," he smirked, "you're cute when you sleep. You talk." And with saying that, he was gone.

My stomach turned at his last two words. _"You talk."_ What had I said? I thought hard about my dreams, hoping to call back something, but my mind was blank. Nothing came to me, which didn't help my current feelings. I groaned slightly, remembering that my dreams had been about him lately.

Sighing, I pulled the blanket back over me and got comfortable. The blanket smelled amazing, sweet, and perfect, just like him. I loved it. But the happy feeling I was developing disappeared instantly and was replaced with guilt when I realized I was in _his_ bed. He must have slept somewhere else, like on his couch or in the office or something. My guilt just kept growing.

I closed my eyes and breathed in the sweet smell of his blanket, letting relaxation close over me and allowing myself to fall back into a light sleep. I would rest a little longer and just go home again when Toshiro came back. I wanted to stay here in his bed, in his blanket just a little longer. I had to.

"Ayame…" a soft voice was calling to me. It was like it was from anther world. It sounded so far away.

It called to me again and this time I forced myself to open my eyes. I found myself looking into the perfect face of my captain.

He smiled down at me. "So you finally decided to wake up, huh? I've been trying to wake you up for the last few minutes now."

A light pink rose to my cheeks and I sat up as he sat down in an armchair next to the bed that I hadn't noticed before. "Sorry," I mumbled groggily.

He laughed. "Don't be."

I smiled at him as I swung my feet over the side of the bed and stood up. Yawning, I stretched my arms up above my head. "What time is it anyway?" I asked.

Toshiro swiveled around in his chair to glance at the little clock on the table besides him. "10:55." He replied smoothly.

"Oh, I better go then. You probably have work to do and stuff anyway. But I'll stop by later tonight to see if you need help with anything," I said as I rushed to slip into my shoes and grab my zanpakto. "See ya."

"Okay, I'll see you later then. Bye…" Toshiro said softly, his gaze never falling on me as I hurried out the door.

The moment I was out of there, I broke out into a run. I really, really hoped no one had seen me leaving. That wouldn't turn out well; I just knew it. It would raise suspicion and rumors would spread. That was just something neither of us would want to deal with.

After awhile I stopped and started walking again. It would just seem weird if I was running around the soul society like that. And I really didn't want to talk to anyone at the moment. I just wanted to go home.

When I finally reached my apartment, I slipped silently inside and tossed my shoes in the corner, my zanpakto on my bed. Then, I headed to the bathroom. I wanted to take a shower so I quickly combed through my hair and took a hot shower. I didn't really want to stay home long, so I dried my hair and wrapped a towel around my thin frame as I headed back to my bedroom. There, I slipped into a pair of dark jeans and a pink tank top. In the soul society, I was one of the very few, if there was anyone else, that dressed like the people in the mortal world did. I liked it more and never minded the fact that I stood out from the others. Apparently, neither did they.

When I was brushing through my hair again, trying to get it to lie just right over my shoulders, there was a light knock at the door. I rushed out of my room and pulled the door open, finding myself looking up into the face of none other than Gin Ichimaru.

"Good morning, Ayame." He said slyly, his usual creepy smile on his face.

"Good morning, Gin." I replied, smiling and stepping aside to let him in.

He slid inside easily, gracefully, his smiling face turning to take in my tiny living room. Eventually, his gase averted back to me. "You're probably wondering why I'm here, right?"

I nodded slowly. "Yeah…Sort of." I admitted, walking over to the couch and sitting down. I silently offered for him to sit down as well.

"Your captain, Hitsugaya, I've seen you two together a lot lately. I just wanted to know what exactly has been going on." The smile on his face never faltered as he spoke slowly, suspicion hidden in his voice. "I also saw you leaving his house this morning, looking the same has you had last night. I'm positive you stayed there all night."

My heart skipped a beat at his last sentence, but I kept my face calm and relaxed. "Gin," I laughed gently. "Toshiro and I are nothing more than friends. He's my captain! Trust me, there's nothing going on between us!"

Ichimaru looked surprised at my words, but the grin on his face grew wider. "Good," he whispered, reaching out and gently stroking my cheek with his icy white hand. "I was worried I'd have to kill him to protect my sweet Ayame." He smirked.

I recoiled from his touch ever so slightly. "Well, there's no need to kill _anyone_." I whispered, fearing what he was planning to do to anyone that was more than just a friend to me.

My heart was pounding nervously in my chest as I glanced at the clock and stood up. It had only been about 2 hours since I had left my captain's home, but I just wanted to escape from Ichimaru. I was sure it wouldn't hurt if I showed up so early; besides, I had told him I would be back.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Gin, but I'd better get going. I've got a few things I have to get done today." I said, forcing my breathtaking smile to appear on my face. "It was really nice to talk to you though." I said, pushing him out of the door and locking it behind him.

I sighed and leaned against the wall. My heart was pounding hard now, but not the same way it did when I was around Toshiro; it was in a very bad way. I did feel relieved to know that Ichimaru was gone though. I shuddered slightly. He was just so creepy. Who knows what he could have done to me if he had stayed any longer.

Knowing that Ichimaru would probably be watching to see if I really left, I slipped into my shoes and attached my zanpakto to my belt loop. It was nice out so I didn't grab a jacket. I pulled open the door and stepped out into the sun.

A smile spread across my face. I loved the sun and I loved to feel its warmth as it kissed my skin. A new, carefree happiness flowed through me as I started towards Toshiro's apartment and office again.

When I reached his apartment, I hesitated in front of the door, trying to decide if I really wanted to knock and go in or not. I wasn't sure if he was expecting me to come back so soon. I wondered silently to myself if he was growing annoyed of me or thought of me as "clingy."

Finally I decide to go in. If he was annoyed, I'd simply make up some random excuse and leave. So, I gently knocked on the door three times and in a moment, the door opened and I was looking into the face of my captain, Toshiro Hitsugaya.

He looked really tired, but when he saw me, his face lit up a little and a smile played across his lips.

"Hey Ayame." He said, stepping aside to let me in.

"Hey…" I breathed, slipping past him.

"I didn't really expect you to be back so soon, so I'm sort of in the middle of doing more paperwork. I've put this stuff off for awhile now and I'm doing squad five's work too." He said sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

I laughed. "I'm sorry. It's just that Ichimaru was at my house and I kind of said that I had some where to go, so I came here. I hope you don't mind…" I looked over at him and realized that he had stopped a few feet behind me.

"Ichimaru was at your house?" He questioned. "What the hell did he want?" His voice sounded upset, angry. It sort of took me by surprise actually.

I blushed a little and looked away again. "Nothing. It was nothing. He didn't want to know anything important, just…something."

I felt his hand in mine and he pulled me around so I was facing him again. "What did he want to know?"

I blushed even more and looked down at my feet. "He just wanted to know if there was anything going on…between you and me." I muttered. It was so hard to say something like that to him, especially because I wanted more than anything for us to be together.

"Oh…" He whispered.

There was something hidden in his voice, something important, but I couldn't quite tell what it was. But it was there, I knew it.

When I finally forced myself to look at him again, there was a light tint in his cheeks. It was cute and I didn't want to look away again. Though, he seemed to sense my eyes on him and looked directly into mine. When our eyes locked, we both flushed and looked away, an awkward silence closing over us. My heart stopped and picked up tempo twice as fast, but this time, I was afraid I wasn't the only one that could hear it.

Toshiro was the one to move first. He started walking towards his office again and I followed a few feet behind him. When we reached our destination, I saw that the second desk was gone and the couch was moved back to its original position. Everything was back to normal, probably because he wasn't really expecting help this time.

"You can just go ahead and sit on the couch. I'll put this stuff away so I can sit with you." He said, gathering all of the papers on the desk and putting them in a drawer.

"Oh, no, it's okay. You can finish your work if you want, go ahead. I really don't mind. I'll even help because I mean, it is my own fault for showing up again so soon. I really don't want to impose or anything." I responded quickly. I hated distracting him from his work.

He laughed gently and my heart fluttered. "Do you really think I would rather do more paper work when I could talk to you instead? Ayame, don't forget that I'm not much older than you, even if I do act like it. And, it's your day off. I really don't think you want to sit around doing more work." He smiled at me and sat down on the couch, motioning for me to sit next to him.

I gladly accepted his offer and sat next to him, being extremely careful to keep a small space between us. I didn't want to make his feel weird or anything even though I yearned to close the gap.

"So, what did Ichimaru say exactly?" he asked after a few minutes.

I shrugged. "Not very much, but he did mention how you and I have spent extra time together lately and he said he saw me leaving this morning. He knew I had stayed all night." I shuddered slightly. "I hate how he knows so much about me. It's like he follows me around, always being careful to stay in the shadows so I can't sense him."

Toshiro laughed a little. "Well, it _is_ Ichimaru and he obviously really likes you so, yeah, I'm bet he does follow you."

I looked down at my hands resting in my lap. "But I really don't want _him_ to admire me. I want someone else to." I muttered softly under my breath. I really hoped he hadn't heard that.

I glanced up in his direction and saw that his emerald eyes were locked on me. He reached over and caught a stray strand of my hair and tucked it back into place behind my ear. As he pulled his hand away, I shuddered involuntarily. It felt like my breath was caught in my chest.

I saw a small smirk spread across his face.

My eyes narrowed. "What?" I asked, trying to unsuccessfully suppress a smile.

He shook his head. "Nothing." He replied, turning away.

I studied his face for a moment and saw a light blush creep into his cheeks. I smiled and dropped my gaze to my hands again.

For the time I was there, we talked about a lot of things. Some topics were serious while others were completely random. What I loved most about it though, was the fact that we laughed most of the time. When we were around each other, we seemed more open and acted more our age. That by it's self was something special.

I glanced at the clock and jumped up. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I've kept you from your work for a long time! It's almost eight o'clock." It was just so easy to lose track of time when I was with him.

Toshiro turned and looked at the clock as well. "Oh," he breathed. "You're right, but don't worry about keeping me from my work. It was nice to be able to spend some time with you." He shrugged. "We don't get to spend much time together anymore, like we did when we were kids. I sort of miss that."

I looked down at my feet and smiled, "Yeah, you're right. I miss spending a lot of time with you too. Sure, we talk often enough, but we never go places together or anything. Both of us are always so busy, especially since you're a captain."

He was by my side now, looking down at me. "Ayame…" he said softly. There was something else hidden in his voice again, but I couldn't quite tell what it was.

"Yeah?" I asked looking directly into his eyes.

He shook his head and started walking towards the door.

"Never mind," he muttered, "it's not really that important."

"Oh," was all I was able to say as I followed him to the door.

We were side by side when I turned to face him, but when I looked at him; he looked troubled, torn, like he was debating whether or not to do something. Then, he took a step towards me, closing the small space between us. My heart beat picked up.

"Ayame…" he sighed, brushing a strand of hair out of my eyes. It was hard for me to breathe now.

He presses his warm hand against my cheek and gently pulled my face closer to his until our lips met. I felt like my heart was going to explode as he pressed his body up against mine. His hand stayed on my face as his other one slid around my waist. I slowly snaked my arms around his neck and felt him smile as I deepened the kiss. I had waited too long for this moment and I didn't want it to end now.

* * *

Okay, so chapter two is done! Woo! Oh, and I don't think there will be many chapters seeing as when I write stuff on paper, it's always a lot shorter typed, but I don't know. It's not done yet, so there might be 6 chapters at the most. I'm not really sure. But thanks for reading and please review! I'll try to update soon!

With much love,

lovelybabe123


End file.
